


All you had to do

by AshAndSnow



Series: Start With This [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ambigious setting, Denial, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24143266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshAndSnow/pseuds/AshAndSnow
Summary: Four times Tony wanted to kiss Loki, and one time Loki kissed him.(Prompt: repeat a phrase  five times)
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Start With This [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1317602
Comments: 15
Kudos: 156





	All you had to do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AMidnightDreary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Jojo!

i  
The first time Tony wanted to kiss Loki, they were sharing a drink on the roof.

It wasn’t even anything specific that Loki had said or done; it was, of all things, the sun playing tricks on his mind.

Loki was explaining something from a book he had just finished, animated and passionate in his gestures and expressions, relaxed and beautiful; a sight only enhanced by the way the sun was hitting his hair, bringing out a million different subtle shades in its black strands, making his eyes sparkle with that something extra, and calling attention to his friend’s stunning bone structure.

But it was just that: the sun. Right?

Tony pulled himself together. It was a one off thing, it had to be.

And exactly because this desire to kiss him stemmed from an outside factor and not Loki himself, it was easy to dismiss the urge. It wasn’t how Tony really felt, after all. This was Loki, his close friend, and he wanted nothing more than to go on as if this little… thing hadn’t just happened.

So he did.

ii  
The second time Tony wanted to kiss Loki, they were watching a movie with the rest of the group.

It was terrible, no arguments about it. But the kind of terrible that’s entertaining in itself, and so everyone was having a good time anyway.

Except…

The bad jokes and mishaps the rest of the group was laughing at? Tony was amused and having fun, sure, but they weren’t laugh out loud funny to him. And this wasn’t something he was paying much attention to. Why should he? What did it matter? He wasn’t enjoying himself less.

Until things started happening that did make him laugh.

Because the only other person laughing? Loki.

The movie continued playing and the laughter continued in the same pattern; either Tony and Loki laughed, or everyone else laughed.

Tony was absolutely certain of this. He kept an eye on it, too curious to let it go, yet not wanting to have to ask JARVIS about it later and put a voice to this odd something brewing inside him.

But it was just one dumb movie. And everyone was there and Loki was unlikely to be putting any stock in what was happening, and it would be ridiculous if Tony just walked straight up to him and kissed him out of nowhere in the middle of the movie. This was not the time, and it was probably nothing anyway.

He was thinking so hard that he missed the next bit of the movie. He was only pulled back to reality when Loki was left the only one to laugh at whatever had just happened.

As much as Tony secretly wanted to just linger on that laugh, he knew he had to return to the present. Get back to normal as quickly as possible.

So he did.

iii  
The third time Tony wanted to kiss Loki, they were out for a walk when Loki punched him in the shoulder.

A Volkswagen Beetle were passing them in the street, and Tony spotted it first. He resisted the urge to do anything about it. Last time he’d done it, he’d been with Pepper, and she had admonished him. Punch buggy was a game for children, and one did not go around punching grown women in the shoulder.

Besides, Loki wasn’t from around here. He probably didn’t know the game, nor did Tony suspect he would enjoy being punched in the shoulder in the name of a children’s game.

He barely got to finish that thought before knuckles bumped into his shoulder, not too hard, really just a playful nudge, accompanied by the words ”punch buggy!”

Stunned, Tony turned to look at Loki, who was in turn looking back at him with a gleeful expression.

”I can hardly believe you missed that,” Loki crowed, all glee and childish, wonderful, beautiful mischief. ”No punchbacks, I won this one.”

But it was not considered polite to kiss your friend in the middle of the street without any preamble.  
Tony supposed the better reaction would be to promise revenge and then start making up all sorts of rules about what was reason enough to a nudge, a touch, a playful shove that might linger a tad too long if he was lucky.

So he did.

iv  
The fourth time Tony wanted to kiss Loki, they were supposed to be taking part in a party alongside everyone else.

But despite his love for a good drink and a good time, Tony found himself in the corner of the rented out bar with Loki. And somehow he wanted nothing more than to be seated here with him, telling him the story of how he’d lost the argument against Clint of all people that HAL 9000 wasn’t so bad and that it really wasn’t his fault that he had malfunctioned.

To his surprise, Loki nodded. ”The book makes it quite clear that he was operating under conflicting instructions. He was doing his best to fulfill all orders at once. He can’t help that he hadn’t been given his mission in clearer terms, or that nobody had bothered to explain if one mission outweighed the other. It seems an immense oversight to me.”

Tony couldn’t tell what warmed him more; that Loki agreed with him, that Loki was the only other person he knew who had read the book, or that Loki referred to the AI as ’he’ rather than ’it’.

Ultimately, Tony decided that he’d had too much to drink, and he probably should stop letting his gaze wander to Loki’s gaze.

What he should do instead was look him in the eye, grin, and continue their conversation like nothing was up.

So he did.

v  
The fifth time Tony wanted to kiss Loki, Loki kissed him first.

They had been surprised by a hefty rain shower on their way to the park. They’d had plans to go to a showing of Grease, because somehow Loki had never watched Grease and that was an atrocity, and they’d bought takeout from their favourite Italian place – a place Tony privately thought of as his and Loki’s, a place he never went with anyone else, a secret hideout for the both of them.

But the rain that had been promised for the early hours of the following morning had made an executive decision to do whatever the hell it wanted, regardless of what the weather forecast thought it should do. And so it was coming down now, and coming down hard.

This was so not how Tony had envisioned their not-date, he thought mournfully, looking out on the wet streets from his and Loki’s safe spot, seated on a short staircase underneath an awning. ”I don’t think this’ll let up any time soon.”

”No, I rather think it won’t,” Loki responded; but rather than sound regretful, he seemed perfectly at ease. Tony turned to look at him.

”You’re not bothered?”

Loki raised an eyebrow. A perfectly sculpted, delicate, beautiful eyebrow. ”Should I be?”

”Our plans are ruined,” Tony reminded him, slightly incredulous at Loki’s casual attitude. ”There’s no way they’ll still be showing the movie in this weather.

Loki just shrugged. ”This seems as good a place as any to eat and drink wine to me,” he said. ”We can watch Grease on your phone. This date need not be ruined; we will simply have our picnic here.”

Tony just… stared.

Loki, who was never happy with the weather, had just willingly agreed to a picnic on a random set of steps, despite the rain. Loki, who was so often looking for excuses to cancel plans and be alone, was making the extra effort to be with Tony. Loki, who so often complained about this or about that, was the one to ground Tony and make the best of this botched situation.

And Loki, who was notoriously reserved, had just openly referred to this as a date.

Loki was also grinning at him, and yeah, okay, Tony’s thoughts were probably plastered all over his face.

He pulled himself together. ”Uh. Date, huh?” It was meant to be teasing and fish for answers at once, but Tony could hear as well as Loki likely could just how awkward he sounded.

Fortunately, Loki’s grin merely widened. ”Oh, Anthony. Darling fool.” And with that, Loki leaned in and kissed him, and suddenly Tony forgot all about his damp shirt.

For a second, Tony was just letting it happen, surprised by how easy it was. But he knew he should pull Loki closer; tangle his hands in his hair, deepend the kiss, close his eyes and sink into this incredible man’s embrace. He should kiss him with all he had, relish in the swoop of his stomach so like the one that came with riding a rollercoaster. He should confess everything he felt with a thousand kisses and not a single word. He should tell him he loved him in a thousand different ways and never let him go. He should stop thinking so much about what he should do, and let this kiss sweep him off his feet.

So he did.


End file.
